My favorite points programs, by far, are transferable points programs. These are programs where points can be transferred to airline and hotel programs, making it possible to cherry-pick the best opportunities. If you earn points in only one loyalty program then you may find that flight awards or hotel awards are not available when and where you need them. With transferable points programs, though, your opportunities are far greater.
I’m also a fan of “promiscuous” transfer partners. These are the loyalty programs that make their points available to multiple transferable points programs. For example, Air France Flying Blue miles are transferable from all major transferable points programs that we track. The value to this should be obvious: if you need more points to book an award, you can get those points from any one of the supporting transferable points programs. So, if you opportunistically earn transferable points when it is easiest to do so (via big welcome offers, special promotions, etc.), you will likely find that you can scrape together points needed for an award by pooling points from multiple transferable points programs into a single promiscuous partner.
Promiscuous transfer partners, ranked by number of partners
Let’s look at the programs that are most widely available through the major transferable points programs.
6 Partnerships (The Most Promiscuous Programs)
Shown below are all airline programs that are direct transfer partners with six transferable points programs (Note: For a complete list transferable points programs, please see our Transfer Partner Master List):
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Unknown) |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 (~12 - 72 hours (slower over weekend)) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 via Qatar (~1 day) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 (12 - 24 hours) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Instant) | 1 to 1 via BA (Unknown) |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unkown) |
5 Partnerships
Shown below are all airline programs that are direct transfer partners with five transferable points programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) |
4 Partnerships
Shown below are all airline programs that are direct transfer partners with four transferable points programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (1 - 2 days) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~12 - 24 hours) |
3 Partnerships
Shown below are all airline programs that are direct transfer partners with three transferable points programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | 1 to 1.6 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~6 days) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 hour) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| JetBlue | 250 to 200 plus excise tax (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | |||
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1 to 1 (12 - 24 hours) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) |
2 Partnerships
Shown below are all airline programs that are direct transfer partners with two transferable points programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 1 to 1 (~2 days) | 1000 to 750 (~1 day) | ||||
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) |
Wrap Up
The tables above show the most “promiscuous” programs. These are the programs that are supported by multiple transferable points programs. Of course, just because you can transfer points to a particular program does not mean that it’s a good idea. Every airline program has its own award rates and rules. And, the best program to use for booking an award is often not the airline you want to fly. Thanks to partnerships and alliances, many flights can be booked from many different programs. And, these programs differ both in how they price awards and in the taxes and fees charged.
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